The Heart Asks Pleasure First

On a sunny day in 2001, Daya, a ballet student, is sitting in a park in Wales far away from her home in India. She is about to meet Aaftab, a young Muslim lawyer from Pakistan, and fall devastatingly in love.

Though Aaftab battles his heart, their relationship quickly transcends the divides of religion, nationality and language. But even as they forge profound bonds, the cataclysmic events of the year will have dangerous ramifications and push them to confront the most difficult complexities of their lives.

Set in a world of students but breathtaking in its expansiveness, The Heart Asks Pleasure First is a novel that speaks urgently to the frailties of our times. Karuna Ezara Parikh humanizes the big themes of friendship and family, migration and xenophobia, with the deftness of a poet and the magic of a born storyteller.